Transcript powerpoint slides

RoboProf and first year
Programming
Charlie Daly
Problem
Introduction to Computer Programming.
(50 Students)
Maths students (not motivated)
Talk Outline
• The problem of teaching programming
• Ideas for a solution
WWW
Quake
• Demo
• Results
RoboProf
Problem of teaching
Programming
• Learning to program is difficult.
– Problem Solving
– Program Design
– Programming language concepts
First year Programming
• Start with programming language
concepts (design and problem solving left
til later)
• Use simple programs to build up
– confidence
– knowledge of programming language
– programming idioms
Advantages of the WWW
• User Friendly
• Easy to add graphics, sound, video
• Easy to extend (scalable)
• Automatically networked
• Free software (e.g. browsers)
• Links easily with email and newsgroups
But ...
• There is no clear direction.
• It does not focus attention. It is too easy
to click away from difficult material.
• There is no feeling of progress.
Computer Games and
Motivation
• Ideas from the computer games world
(E.g. Quake, Doom)
– make progress visible
– set small but possible challenges
– Instant reward (fast feedback) (gratification)
– Don't punish efforts: Allow repeat attempts.
WWW+Quake=RoboProf
• The game idea provides the structure:
– conquer challenges to proceed
– make progress visible.
• RoboProf generates each HTML page
dynamically based on progress so far.
The Challenges
• Programming problems and tests
• Problem is to make them easy but useful
with fast feedback.
– Remove any drudgery
– fast feedback (automatically marked)
– no punishment
– easy (adapt an example)
Implementation
Browser
WWW server
Running Java
Servlet
RoboProf in action
• Student start with an overview which
indicates progress.
• On-line tests ensure students they
understand material before they can
proceed.
• Tests are student friendly (self-paced,
immediate feedback, no deadlines, no
punishment).
Assessment
• Questions with randomised parameters.
(i.e. each student gets a different
question.)
• Programming problems. Executed by a
Java Applet on local machine. (Important
for security reasons.)
• Can be extended to other domains.
Results
• Students used the system continuously
throughout semester.
• Students liked the feedback and the selfpaced aspect. They didn't like the precise
marking system.
• We needed more lab assistants. Students
faced with a task were less shy and
demanded attention.
Lecturer has full control
• Observe student progress.
• Detect problems early (with whole class
or individual students).
• Links easily with email to aid feedback.
The end